On 12/20/2015 4:08 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
This morning, I saw frost on my neighbors' roofs as late as 8:30am.

"Winter chill" is the number of hous the termperature is at or below
45F. I generally measure from 1 November to 31 March. The average for
my area is about 330 hours. Two years ago, however, we got only 127
hours. Last year it was only 102 hours with the first chill occuring
late on Christmas day.

This year seems to be reverting back to normal. Our first chill was in
mid-November. So far, we have had over 50 hours of chill.

Just because we are having a normally cold winter does not mean there is
no human-induced climate change. "One swallow does not make a summer."
(Aristotle)


Opposite problem here nearer the opposite coast. I've been having insanely
warm temperatures aggravated by excessive rain. I've noted that verbena,
creeping phlox and periwinkle are blooming; color is showing in the buds on
the weeping cherry; hyacinth, daffodils, and crocus are coming up fast.
I've yet to walk out into the woody area near the driveway because of the
thick wet leaves but I fear that the English bluebells are coming up and
they are marginal in my climate under the best of conditions -- if they
come up now they probably won't survive to bloom later.

The new normal is abnormal...